Close Reading is a strategy that can be used when reading challenging text. This strategy requires teachers to provide scaffolding, and create opportunities for think-alouds and rereading of text in order to help students become active readers who focus on finding text-based support for their answers. In addition, teachers must also be aware of…

Asserts that Martin Amis' contemporary novel, Night Train, is a remarkably effective tool for introducing postmodernist notions in general literature classrooms. Presents a definition for postmodernism and brings the reader through a detailed analysis of the language and structure of the novel. Concludes with students' reaction to the analytical…

Suggests that class discussions of George Eliot's Middlemarch should focus on students' responses to the social, moral, and psychological problems presented in the novel. Asserts that the novel teaches students important lessons about the limitations of human nature and the impact of internal and external constraints on ideals. (Contains 14…

The National Assessment of Reading was not based on any one particular approach to the subject of reading. Its primary assumption was that information would help anyone who is interested in reading--regardless of his approach to the subject--determine for himself how well Americans read. The results of this assessment are reported according to a…

Describes two learning activity packages using printed words on commercial products for teaching children the major decoding skills of phonetic and structural analysis and the major comprehension skill areas of main idea, reading for details, sequence, determining cause and effect, drawing conclusions, and following directions. (Author/CMV)

This book, for grades 9-12, contains a wealth of ideas and practical activities for studying Shakespeare's "Hamlet." The first section, "Revenge Tragedy," provides background materials to help prepare students to read "Hamlet," including a discussion of revenge tragedies, comparisons to other plays from the period,…

Examines the nature of early school reading material and its distinct discourse structures, which are used to present possible social worlds and characters to children. Argues that understanding the interpretive challenges and problems that such texts present to children aids teachers in enhancing literacy. (RAE)

In most disciplines, professors ask students to "read" without specifying what this operation means for their particular field. This chapter traces the path laid out in a cultural history class, where reading entails identifying the essential elements of a text. (Contains 1 figure.)

Thinking skills in children, effectively developed through reading, were emphasized at this reading conference. Three types of thinking skills linked to reading are: decoding symbols from the printed page, seeking factual meaning through recall; reading interpretively, understanding cause and effect reasoning or seeking the main idea of sentences;…

A study was conducted to identify strategies used by successful readers in comprehending and interpreting various kinds of texts. Seventy-three graduate students were asked to keep a journal (unedited and freely written) of what they were thinking as they were reading Umberto Eco's novel "The Name of the Rose." Selected journal entries…

Designed to supplement the day-to-day planning, teaching, and evaluation activities of reading teachers at all educational levels, this compilation contains 689 citations of documents that appeared in "Resources in Education" from 1966 to 1980. The classification scheme reflected in the table of contents, developed from staff recommendations and…